Road to Russia Update #4

July Update:


Miles Driven: 4,470-MTD &  16,393- YTD
Churches Visited: 3-MTD &  21-YTD
Support: 28% (at least!! God has truly been blessing!)
Months on the Road: 4
Weeks Until Baby Jacob Arrives: 12!


After a few weeks of no meetings, we were very ready to be back on the road traveling! Our first stop was at Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Pastor Jason Gaddis. After attending Heartland Baptist Bible College and Southwest for four years, it was weird to be one of the "special guests"! We had a great time spending the day with them during their Mid-Summer Missions Sunday. It was such a blessing to be around old friends and church family!

Our next stop was in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee at Calvary Baptist Church, Pastor Ayres. After presenting our ministry on Sunday, we helped out with their Vacation Bible School all week long. It was such a great time, and the Lord truly blessed with seeing five souls saved. James and I both had the opportunity to lead a young person to the Lord. The young lady I led to the Lord, Maria came back the next day with her cousin. She said to me, "Can you tell her how to get saved too? You explained it so well to me and I thought you could help her understand what saved means." It was such a blessing to hear that. She was so excited to tell her cousin about salvation and she truly understood. Praise the Lord!

We finished off the month in Lewisville, Texas at Liberty Baptist, Pastor Dick Webster. We had a wonderful time getting to know Bro. Webster and his wife for the couple of days we were in town. He was truly an encouragement to us! Missions has a special place in his heart as he too was a missionary, and his children also serve on the mission field.

As August is upon us, we look forward to staying busy! By the end of this month we will be Alaska bound! We appreciate your prayers as we travel. The Lord has truly blessed and taken care of us as we serve Him on the road of deputation! We can't say enough, how amazing is our God!

VBS on Deputation

It's summer time and that usually means the "busy" season for most churches, camps, VBS, youth conferences, retreats, etc. We have been blessed to be pretty well booked throughout most of the summer. By the end of summer we will have been able to help out in three Vacation Bible Schools. VBS is such an exciting week and we are thankful to be a part of them! This past week, we were at Calvary Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, helping out with their VBS.

With an olympic theme, their theme verse was 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25 "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." 

James and I had an especially nice time that week for a few reasons. One being, the new youth pastor and his wife were newly weds and had gone right into the ministry, like we had. So it was neat to spend time with them and be able to encourage them in the ministry. This was their first VBS to put on and they were happy to have helping hands! Since James had done a couple in the past, he had all his materials to help out. After the decorations were all set up, it was time to get ready for the kids to show up!

Registering the kids.

James preaching on the final night

After all the kids were signed up and registered, they marched into the auditorium to kick things off! I was able to help out with registration, keeping track of points, skits, taste testing the snacks and altar call work ( my favorite!). James led the song services, preached every other night, and filled in wherever else he was needed. There was another missionary family there as well, the Lyons family to France. Bro. Mike Lyons also preached on the nights James didn't. Each service was kicked off with songs! And James did a great job getting the kids excited about the night!

James with the young man he helped lead to the Lord, Bryan.

Me with the young lady, Maria far left that I was able to help lead to the Lord.

These last two pictures of VBS, with the children we were able to help lead to the Lord, are my favorite. Maria came back with her cousin the next day so she too could learn how to be saved! She didn't accept Christ as her Savior but the seed was certainly planted. It was so sweet to see her excitement about being a Christian! It made the whole week worth all the hard work that was put into it! There was a total of five young people who accepted Christ that week, and one assurance of salvation. Praise the Lord! We had such a great time getting to know all the children throughout the week and the church family. God truly blessed their Vacation Bible School! And we look forward to hosting VBS in Lake Milton, Ohio at Lake Milton Baptist Temple August 13-17!  Our theme will be "The Amazing Race!" Can't wait to see what the Lord will do!